According to Deloitte’s analysis, automatison should not substantially increase the unemployment rate in the short term, provided labour markets are flexible enough and employees willing to adjust. In the long term, the loss of jobs will be compensated by the creation of new ones, whether in new technological fields or in the rest of the economy as a result of growing productivity, income and demand.

“Besides the importance of technical expertise, microeconomic data also point to the need for soft and problem-solving skills. The education system should reflect this, and, along with expertise in information technologies, provide students with an interdisciplinary approach and the ability to solve problems,” says David Marek, Deloitte’s Chief Economist and the author of the study.

Agriculture and the construction and manufacturing industries will derive the most benefits from automation and robotisation. In contrast, education will probably be the least affected. This is despite the fact that Deloitte’s survey among Czech CFOs also confirms the importance of automation and robotisation in the Czech economy. When asked about the trends that will affect their companies most, the first and third most frequent answers were the automation of document creating and processing (76%), and robotisation and RPA, or ‘robotic process automation’ (51%).

“RPA software can be implemented across various industries for virtually any back-office work and routine tasks. Compared to Western Europe, the process of implementing RPA in the Czech Republic is unique. The country’s history has a relatively significant influence on how fast technology changes are implemented. The positive attitude to technologies and innovations in the Czech Republic is a considerable competitive advantage,” adds Milan Kulhánek, a Deloitte partner and leader of the robotics team.

Robotisation was also the subject of last year’s Deloitte global study The robots are ready, are you? In it, 53% of respondents replied that they had already started their “journey” to RPA. What is more, 19% are estimated to do so in the next two years. 86% of respondents recorded an increase in productivity and only 3% decreased the number of employees in the digital industry.

In comparison, the results of the above mentioned Czech CFO survey showed that 21% respondents had initiated the process of implementing RPA or were advanced in it. An additional 44% was in the planning or preparation process.

To download The Automation of Work in the Czech Republic, follow this link.
For the global study The robots are ready. Are you? follow this link.